Integra Resources (ITR.V, ITRG) has released the assay results of an additional eleven holes (10 drilled at Florida Mountain, one drilled at the Lucky Days target on the Blacksheep trend) and the Florida Mountain drill results are quite intriguing as some of the holes were drilled several hundred meters outside of the existing resource model. Most of the high grade zones are relatively narrow (as could be expected from a vein system) but the grade more than makes up for it. The three assay results that have been singled out by Integra Resources in the bullet points of the press release indicate excellent gram-meters intercepts.
In 2020, Integra Resources refined its understanding of how the high grade veins were structuraly controlled and is now applying its exploration model to target the higher grade ore shoots within the known vein systems that have been identified to date. A total of seven high-grade vein structures have been modeled and only one of those seven structures is actually related to the Trade Dollar Black Jack vein where most of the historical production took place. The other six vein structures are ‘new’ and only very limited production was recorded on those veins and considering the company mentioned all vein structures appear to be similar in size and orientation, there may be some low-hanging fruit at Florida Mountain.
Integra has also provided a very useful video wherein CEO Salamis discusses the exploration update. The 10 minute video provides an excellent summary.
We will likely know more once the company publishes an updated resource estimate (later this quarter) and that resource will likely be the basis for a pre-feasibility study which will be ready for publication by the end of this year. This PFS will provide a more reliable overview of the potential economics of the greater DeLamar project as Integra will use a resource with higher confidence levels and continues to finetune the metallurgical requirements of the project.
While the economic study will likely only focus on the DeLamar, Florida Mountain and War Eagle zones, keep in mind Integra Resources is still completing its regional exploration program and the company also released the assay results of a hole drilled on the Lucky Days target, which is part of the Blacksheep District.
The upper levels of hole 2 is obviously very decent with in excess of 25 metes containing 0.5 g/t gold and 41.2 g/t silver starting pretty close to surface, but going deeper, the results are just mediocre at best: the drill bit did intersect gold and silver mineralization at deeper levels but the shallower interval is clearly better. Nonetheless, these initial results from Lucky Days are clearly encouraging as it confirms the gold mineralization appears to be widespread in the greater DeLamar region.
Disclosure: The author has a long position in Integra Resources. Integra is a sponsor of the website. Please read our disclaimer.
